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What was Kennedy Chandler's first Peach Jam like? A couple days with Memphis basketball's newest offer

NORTH AUGUSTA, S.C. — The second quarter of Kennedy Chandler’s third game at Nike’s annual Peach Jam was winding down late Thursday night when Kylan Chandler finally saw the coach he wanted to see enter the gym.

“He just walked in,” Kylan said to his wife, Rosalind, and pointed toward the opposite end of Court 2 at the Riverview Park Activities Center.

Memphis basketball coach Penny Hardaway had texted the Briarcrest Christian star’s father earlier in the day to let him know he’d be coming to see Kennedy Chandler play for MOKAN Elite. Hardaway had been in contact with the rising junior more frequently in recent weeks, even attending several summer league games in Memphis last month.

And now, finally, there he stood on the baseline, a few feet away from Kentucky’s John Calipari and Georgia’s Tom Crean and a member of the Kansas coaching staff. And there he stood for the remainder of MOKAN’s 83-67 win over Pro Skills, watching Chandler navigate through the pressures of playing on the stage provided by the most prestigious AAU basketball event in the country.

Paolo Banchero, rated the No. 5 recruit in the class of 2021, pulls down a rebound for Seattle Rotary Thursday night at Nike's Peach Jam in North Augusta, South Carolina. Jason Munz/The Commercial Appeal

Jonathan Kuminga (0) gets set to defend Terrence Clarke Thursday at Peach Jam in North Augusta, South Carolina. Kuminga and Clarke are two of the top three 2021 prospects in the country. Jason Munz/The Commercial Appeal

Mokan Elite's Kennedy Chandler, a Briarcrest Christian rising junior, signals to a teammate during a game at Peach Jam in North Augusta, South Carolina. Chandler visited Syracuse for Wednesday night's season opener against Virginia. Jason Munz/The Commercial Appeal

Inside Kennedy Chandler's rapid recruiting rise

For a lot of families, Peach Jam isn’t just a basketball tournament flooded with college coaches and fans. It’s the culmination of multiple years and thousands of dollars spent building toward this moment, where scholarship opportunities are doled out and reputations are cemented.

For Kennedy Chandler, it was the culmination of a year in which he went from a sophomore seeking attention to the highest-rated Memphis area recruit regardless of class.

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Kylan Chandler (blue shirt), the father of Briarcrest star Kennedy Chandler, looks on during his son's game at Peach Jam on Thursday.(Photo: Jason Munz/The Commercial Appeal)

This spring, he shined with MOKAN Elite playing up a year on Nike’s EYBL circuit and the number of high major offers quickly reached double digits heading into Peach Jam, where his team made the semifinals on Saturday.

When the new 2021 recruiting rankings were released, Chandler was suddenly a consensus top-40 prospect. He was then invited to a Team USA training camp this month.

In a matter of weeks, Kylan Chandler went from reaching out to coaches hoping to spark interest in his son to having to hold them off.

“Everybody but the bluebloods,” Kylan Chandler said before Kennedy had 17 points, eight assists and six steals in his Peach Jam debut Wednesday night. “I’m not complaining, but it’s really overwhelming. It’s gotten serious because he’s gotten a lot of attention from the rankings.”

A scholarship, however, is what the family hoped for over the years, ever since they watched Kennedy whipping passes around the court as a 5-year-old. And Kylan has been receiving text messages from coaches at Kentucky, Kansas, Arizona, Michigan and Syracuse of late, letting him know they plan to watch Kennedy at Peach Jam.

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Mokan Elite's Kennedy Chandler, a Briarcrest Christian rising junior, signals to a teammate during a game at Peach Jam in North Augusta, South Carolina. Chandler visited Syracuse for Wednesday night's season opener against Virginia.(Photo: Jason Munz/The Commercial Appeal)

It’s a level of attention Kylan Chandler never received. He didn’t play college basketball at LeMoyne-Owen after playing at Hamilton High School alongside future Arkansas star Todd Day. Instead, he settled into a job as a manager with FedEx.

But Rosalind Chandler’s cousin is former NBA player Lee Mayberry, and “basketball is in our blood,” she said.

To help their son, they’ve paid for trainers and credited local strength and conditioning coach Raheem Shabazz with improving Kennedy’s athleticism exponentially over the past year. They’ve also embraced cryotherapy treatments, all in the pursuit of the college basketball dream.

'It's like everybody's after me'

As dedicated as they are to the cause, though, Kylan and Rosalind are aware their 16-year-old is still 16. He’s still prone to ups and downs, and his second game at Peach Jam was proof of this.

Kennedy fouled out early in the fourth quarter of a MOKAN Elite loss. He finished with just five points, four rebounds and four assists, but hounded top 2020 point guard Sharife Cooper into 10 turnovers on defense.

In the hallway outside the gym afterwards, as an Ole Miss coach walked past and said hello, a frustrated Kennedy shrugged his shoulders when asked about the schools recruiting him hardest right now.

“It’s like everybody’s after me,” he said and, as if on cue, a couple of young children asked to take a picture with him. “I always watched the games (at Peach Jam), so I knew it was going to be a packed house. I just got to come out and play good and show the coaches what I can do.”

Kylan Chandler keeps his distance because of the pressure that already exists around events like this one. He’s of the belief that overbearing parents “mess up a kid’s recruitment.”

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Mokan Elite's Kennedy Chandler, a Briarcrest Christian 2021 prospect, dribbles past a defender during a game at Peach Jam in North Augusta, South Carolina.(Photo: Jason Munz/The Commercial Appeal)

Which is why his reaction to Hardaway’s entrance Thursday night proved intriguing.

Kennedy once flirted with playing for Hardaway. He was a member of Team Penny, Hardaway’s former AAU organization, in the eighth grade. He then played for East High School, then coached by Hardaway, in summer league action ahead of his ninth grade season.

But Kennedy ultimately ended up back at Briarcrest, where he’s been since elementary school.

Now, a little more than two years later, Hardaway watched in Memphis gear as Kennedy sealed another MOKAN win with a beautiful dish off a spin move and a thunderous fastbreak dunk.

Apparently, Hardaway had seen enough.

“Penny reached out to Kennedy,” Kylan wrote in a text message less than 24 hours later.

At his son’s first Peach Jam, Memphis had finally offered the scholarship they so badly wanted.

You can reach Commercial Appeal columnist Mark Giannotto via email at mgiannotto@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter: @mgiannotto